08/11/2025
Let me tell you an interesting story.
A former American vice president died yesterday. His name was Dick Cheney. But his death is not the reason for this post. The reason for this post is to show the wonders of medical science and medical advancement.
Cheney lived to 84 years old before eventually dying. He had so many heart problems and heart attacks.
First heart attack at age 37,
He had his third heart attack by 47,
That makes it 3 heart attacks within 10years.
He had a major heart surgery called a quadruple bypass surgery,
Even after that surgery,
He had another heart attack making it his 4th heart attack by 50years old,
He developed severe heart failure requiring a defibrillator at 60years old,
He had a surgical repair of abnormal arterial blood vessel problems (called aneurysms) in both legs at 64years old,
Eventually his heart totally failed and he got a Heart Transplant at 71years. And he still lived another 13years to before finally dying at 84years old yesterday.
In total, he had about 5heart attacks in his lifetime. Not many human beings are this lucky. If you have a heart attack in Nigeria, you are more than 90% certain of death. Now you see why Nigerian politicians travel abroad for medical care while leaving the average Nigerian to die in hospitals that are underequipped while being treated by doctors that are underpaid and overworked.
Good healthcare is almost always the singular difference between life and death, and between a short life and a long life.